Kingdom of Lydia Discussion

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Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom in western Anatolia located east of ancient Ionia which developed after the fall of the Hittite Empire. Lydians were a distinct ethnic group with their own language known as Lydian with their capital in Sardis near the Aegean coast. Heroditus says the city was founded by the songs of Hercules in 1220 BC. The Lydian kingdom was very advanced in industrial arts and was a key market place for the region. During the reign of King Croesus metallurgists in Sardis discovered how to separate gold from silver producint both metals in a purity never known to the world before. By minting nearly pure silver and gold coins Sardis is famed in history as the place where modern currency was invented. The Greek legend of King Midas is actually though to originate from gold deposits found in the river Pactolus which flows through ancient Sardis. In 547 BC, the Lydian king Croesus besieged and captured the Persian city of Pteria and enslaved its inhabitants. In response the Persian king Cyrus the Great marched his army against the Lydians and decisively defeated them in the Battle of Thymbra leaving Lydia a province of the Persian Empire until Alexander the Great arrived on the scene.